Most of the Solar System tends to be dull in color; most publicity photos from NASA are significantly enhanced in the color department. The red of Mars or blue

Most of the Solar System tends to be dull in color; most publicity photos from NASA are significantly enhanced in the color department. The red of Mars or blue of Neptune are real, but a lot more like #AA8888 than #FF0000. Water ice and silicon-based rock are both predominantly gray, so you need a considerable presence of some other elements to deviate significantly from that. Even Jupiter's atmospheric bands and Great Red Spot are mostly dull browns, and pretty much everything else with an atmosphere is considerably grayer and blander than most photos lead you to think. Here's a few examples of the Solar System in real color: http://whillyard.com/science-pages/our-solar-system/upload-images/venus-real-color.jpg http://whillyard.com/science-pages/our-solar-system/upload-i... http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Jupiter http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Jupit... http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/HIIPS/EPO/ganymede_g1_true.jpg http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/HIIPS/EPO/ganymede_g1_true.jp...